Farlough
Farlough is a small town, situated on Port Road; the trade road between Whangatawhito and Rivermouth. It was founded sometime around 130-140pt, with enterprising merchants settling around the popular Farlough's Inn. Over the past thirty years it has grown rapidly from a small market to a full town. The people of Farlough still thrive by trading goods and services with the many travellers that pass through their town, particularly the Kaihoko caravans laden with valuable goods for Rivermouth. History Farlough's Inn Farlough's Inn was founded and built by Kevin Farlough in 96-98pt. At first, it was a small operation, since trade between the two port cities was not nearly as common in those times. The inn was only a few hours walk from the small village of Barrowfield, from which the Farlough family came. It remained small all throughout K. Farlough's life, and the founder passed away at the age of 60 in 121pt. He was succeeded by his son Malici Farlough, and the Inn was run much the same for almost a decade more. The founding of the Kaihoko in 118pt, and their rapid expansion and creation of trade opportunities during the years of "the paua wave", drove traffic on the Port Road skywards. Suddenly idependant merchants and Kaihoko contractors began pouring through Farlough's Inn in droves. This huge increase in demand caused a equally large expansion of the Inn, which more than tripled in size in a single year. Merchant Row The high traffic through Farllough's inn provided a perfect climate for clever merchants. Most of the travellers had valuable goods, a few even carrying the much sought after Kaihoko coin. Some of them inevitably forgot to pack something important for the journey, and since they would be gone the next day, it wouldn't hurt to sell them something that may well break in a week's time. At first, merchants on the way to or from the port cities would set up stalls around the inn, staying for a few days to turn some extra profit before heading off again. Before long, some of these people were staying for weeks, or months, and within six months of the inn's expansion, the first house was built. Many other permanent structures followed, both homes and stores. For a long time, the words of the Farlough family carried a lot of weight with the small community, since all the store's customers were coming for the reputable inn. The Town of Farlough There was no single point where the motley collection of merchant houses and stores strung along Port Road became the town of Farlough. It was a gradual transition; as more and more people moved in, and the settlements started spilling out and away from the road, and the place begun to support itself, people started calling it a town. Culture Farlough is a town of immigrants. Most of its population were not born there, even after thirty years, and the rate of immigration still outweighs the birth rate by quite a margin. As a result, there is no homogenous culture among the inhabitants of Farlough. Aspects of every walk of Motunui can be found here, from the tall blonde folk of Rivermouth to the stocky miners of Haggard's Rook to the moko clad tribals of the surrounding area. Almost everybody in Farlough is capable of speaking both Shar and Tangata, although the majority of the population bear the dark complexion of Tangata. One shared trend among the motley peoples of Farlough is mercantilism; it is a town of merchants first and foremost, and Farlough's markets are quite large and varied given the towns modest size. Government Until recently, Farlough had no semblance of central government. The Farlough family were typically looked to to settle important debates, but this was based on respect alone and was in no way final or enforced. Instead the town ran under a mixture of anarchy and crude democracy, with the people deciding amongst themselves what to do, and dealing with things like crime in an unorganised but swift manner. Eventually though, the town outgrew the ability of the people to function in such a way. Arguements, disagreements and disputes were heated and common, with more than a few ending in fist fights or the drawing of patu. Amongst the growing chaos, the ex-soldier Gerald Cutter took it upon himself to gather a small band of men and women to bring the people to bear. Supported by many of the townsfolk, Gerald nonetheless faced fierce opposition from some groups, most of whom miraculously stopped protesting around the same time they all coincidentally suffered from various broken noses and black eyes. Now Gerald is the warden of Farlough, and his job largely involves overseeing and implementing the laws decided upon by the town's council, and manging the collection of taxes, the implementation of which was a wildly unpopular decision that coincided with an odd spike in small injuries among more vocal residents.